Vivica A. Fox says the 'Independence Day' sequel was disappointing because Will Smith wasn't in it.

The 58-year-old actress starred opposite Smith as his onscreen love interest in the 1996 alien blockbuster and she reprised her role in the 2016 follow-up 'Independence Day: Resurgence' but her former co-star was absent from the cast - and Vivica is convinced failing to bring him back was a huge mistake.

She told The A.V. Club: "I just didn’t feel like it was good and lived up to the first one. I really feel we missed out by not bringing Will Smith [back].

"We got most of the original cast but I think the one true link that was missing to the success of Independence Day 2 was that we missed ... that Will Smith wasn’t there.”

"And I'm going to tell you, I'm going to keep it real ... I was at the premiere and I was like 'Mmmm ... Let's see how the fans are going to feel about this'. And sure enough on Twitter, they blew me up."

The second film brought back original castmembers Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman and added new stars including Liam Hemsworth and Jessie T. Usher - who played the son of Smith's character.

The sequel was also helmed by the same director - Roland Emmerich, who admitted he had been hoping to sign Smith for the sequel but ended up having to continue the project without him when he decided to take on another sci-fi project instead.

Emmerich told Cinema Blend: "In the very beginning, I wanted to work with him and he was excited to be in it but then after a while he was tired of sequels, and he did another science fiction film, which was his father-son story After Earth, so he opted out."